President Donald Trump canceled a planned military parade through Washington on Nov. 10, citing a $92 million price tag.
Aug. 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said he canceled a planned military parade through Washington on Nov. 10 over its $92 million price tag.
The Pentagon, which offered the price estimate, postponed the parade on Thursday to an undetermined date in 2019. But Trump said Friday on Twitter, “Maybe we will do something next year in D. C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN.” The potential cost is considerably higher than the $10 million to $30 million originally estimated by White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and based on the estimated cost of a 1991 Gulf War victory parade in Washington.
That parade cost about $8 million. After adjusting for inflation and factoring in security, transportation and other expenses, estimated costs rose to $92 million — considered the uppermost estimate. About $50 million would have come from the Defense Department, with $42 million from the Department of Homeland Security.
The parade this fall was meant to be a tribute to service members, and would have coincided with Veterans Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
“The Department of Defense and White House have been planning a parade to honor America’s military veterans and commemorate the centennial of World War I,” Defense Department spokesman Col. Rob Manning said in a statement. “We originally targeted November 10,2018, for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019.”
Some have criticized the parade as excessive.
“There is only one person who wants this parade,” a senior U. S. official told NBC News, referring to Trump.
In two Twitter messages on Friday, Trump condemned the cost of the parade, blaming District of Columbia politicians, and suggested that he would attend a celebration in Paris on that weekend.
